Labour suffers heavy losses in old strongholds as landslide for Tories redraws electoral map
Labour hearts shattered at the stroke of 10. When the main broadcasters’ exit poll dropped as the hour turned, it delivered the news that activists had dreaded most: an early indication that Boris Johnson had achieved the landslide victory he craved by delivering the biggest Conservative majority for more than 30 years.
After weeks of fluctuating polls and campaigning in winter darkness, an underlying narrative had still left room to doubt Tory hopes of “getting Brexit done” by making some gains from Labour while limiting their losses to the Liberal Democrats.
In a flash, however, a torrent of political change was predicted by the exit poll, which forecast a Conservative majority of 86 and set the tone for a night that appeared to seal Britain’s Brexit fate. There would be no hung parliament, no second referendum and the UK’s departure from the EU would take place on Johnson’s terms. Within minutes, the pound was surging on the back of investors betting that the outcome would lift the intense political uncertainty hanging over the British economy.
Read more at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/13
